Indian cricket team regular Ravindra Jadeja was referred to as ‘Ajay’ recently by an unnamed person, and the all-rounder has subsequently taken to Twitter to vent his anger

Ravindra Jadeja didn’t take kindly to being referred to as ‘Ajay’.(AFP)

In India, there are hardly better known figures in the sporting fraternity than the national team cricketers. While there was a lack of recognition for players in the domestic circuit until a few years back, the advent of T20 and the razzmatazz Indian Premier League has bridged even that gap now.

However, such has been Ravindra Jadeja’s luck, that even after nine years in the international circuit, a fan had apparently walked up to him and congratulated him while referring to him as ‘Ajay’. For the record, India did have a certain Ajay Jadeja representing them back in the 90s, who had earned his reputation as a handy batsman who could carve out a few quickfire knocks and as an excellent fielder.

However, nearly nine years before Ravindra Jadeja even debuted in the national colours, Ajay Jadeja had to hang up his boots after getting involved in a string of controversies involving bookies and match-fixing. Thus, having been referred to as Ajay did irk the all-rounder who had a decent outing in the recently-concluded three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

The southpaw took to Twitter to express his feelings and stated, “Someone came to me and said“well ball ajay. you bowled brilliantly in last match”.played 9 years of international cricket for country and still ppl dont remember my name.#stupidity #gavaar (sic).”

Someone came to me and said"well ball ajay. you bowled brilliantly in last match".played 9 years of international cricket for country and still ppl dont remember my name.😡😡#stupidity#gavaar

It drew mixed reactions from his followers though. While a few backed him and stated that a player of his calibre shouldn’t face such issues given his contribution to the game, others opined that it might have been a simple error on the part of the fan and he shouldn’t be making an issue out of it.

Jadeja, however, had been exceptional in the Test series that India bagged 1-0 to equal a record ninth consecutive series win. Included in the side as Ravichandran Ashwin’s spin partner, Jadeja picked up 10 wickets while the former added 12 to his kitty. Besides the breakthroughs, Jadeja’s miserly economy rate of 2.21 also had a huge impact.